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64 THE EXPLORATION OF THE CAUCASUS killed. The pliant Ossetes have recognised, that the Russian service offers a means by which they may rise to fortune. The Turkish and Mohammedan mountaineers alone are still uneasy, and might easily be driven by a clumsy administrator to try their fortiuies beyond the frontier. At the present time such a calamity does not appear imminent, and we miist trust that it will not be brought about by the blunders of any minor official who has failed to grasp the policy of his chiefs and the true position of his country in the Caucasus. In repressing disorder, improving communications, and welding different races into a political unit, Russia is at once carrying on the work of civiUsation and strengthening her own position in Western Asia. The depopulation of the Black Sea coast marks an exception to the comparative success which her rulers have achieved in other parts of the isthmus. In my opinion, the great hope for the future of the country lies in the fact that the Caucasians themselves are acquiring a keen desire for progress. Energy, uprightness, and intelligence in the government will meet with ready appreciation and support from many of the native nobles, from the mercantile classes of the towns, and even from the more intelligent among the mountain people, in whom schools and the vicinity of railways are rapidly developing a new sense of the opportunities of life. The main occupation of the Caucasian Government is no longer the subjugation of lawless tribes. The political pi'oblem now before it is the development of the natural resources of the country and of the capabilities of its population. The chief native races, the Armenians and Georgians, are intelligent and progressive ; they are ^^'ell fitted to play an important part in the future of the Russian Empire ; but they are also the inheritors of national languages and traditions with regard to which they ai-e justly sensitive. Whether these peoj)les are to prove the Scotch or the Irish of Russia will depend mainly on the wisdom of the Imperial Government during the next half century. Questions of present politics are, however, outside my immediate purpose, and I shall not attempt in these pages to forecast the doubtful future of the Caucasian Provinces. I nnist now endeavour to indicate the general character of travel
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64 THE EXPLORATION OF THE CAUCASUS<br />
killed. The pliant Ossetes have recognised, that the Russian service<br />
offers a means by which they may rise to fortune. The Turkish<br />
and Mohammedan mountaineers alone are still uneasy, and might<br />
easily be driven by a clumsy administrator to try<br />
their fortiuies<br />
beyond the frontier. At the present time such a calamity<br />
does not appear imminent, and we miist trust that it will not<br />
be brought about by the blunders of any minor official who has<br />
failed to grasp the policy of his chiefs and the true position of<br />
his country in the Caucasus. In repressing disorder, improving<br />
communications, and welding different races into a political unit,<br />
Russia is at once carrying on the work of civiUsation and<br />
strengthening her own position in Western Asia. The depopulation<br />
of the Black Sea coast marks an exception to the comparative<br />
success which her rulers have achieved in other parts of the<br />
isthmus. In my opinion, the great hope for the future of the<br />
country lies in the fact that the Caucasians themselves are acquiring<br />
a keen desire for progress. Energy, uprightness, and intelligence<br />
in the government will meet with ready appreciation and support<br />
from many of the native nobles, from the mercantile classes of the<br />
towns, and even from the more intelligent among the mountain<br />
people, in whom schools and the vicinity of railways are rapidly<br />
developing a new sense of the opportunities<br />
of life. The main<br />
occupation of the Caucasian Government is no longer the subjugation<br />
of lawless tribes. The political pi'oblem now before it is the<br />
development of the natural resources of the country and of the<br />
capabilities of its population. The chief native races, the Armenians<br />
and Georgians, are intelligent and progressive ; they<br />
are ^^'ell fitted<br />
to play an important part in the future of the Russian Empire ;<br />
but they are also the inheritors of national languages and traditions<br />
with regard to which they ai-e justly sensitive. Whether these<br />
peoj)les are to prove the Scotch or the Irish of Russia will depend<br />
mainly on the wisdom of the Imperial Government during the next<br />
half century. Questions of present politics are, however, outside<br />
my immediate purpose, and I shall not attempt in these pages to<br />
forecast the doubtful future of the Caucasian Provinces.<br />
I nnist now endeavour to indicate the general character of travel